Ameri

Course 4 of 8 · 1850s to 1877

Civil War and Reconstruction

The war that decided whether the Union would last.

5 modules · 20 lessons

  • Download on theApp StoreComing soon
  • Get it onGoogle PlayComing soon

The story in brief

This course starts with two very different ways of life and the compromises that could not hold. It follows the war from Fort Sumter to Appomattox, and it treats slavery and its end as the heart of the story.

Then comes Reconstruction: the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, the hopes they raised and the political deal of 1877 that ended the effort. It is a hard chapter, and it is told plainly.

Three moments to know

  1. 1861

    Fort Sumter

    Confederate guns open fire on a federal fort in South Carolina, and the war begins.

  2. 1863

    The Emancipation Proclamation

    Lincoln declares enslaved people in the rebelling states free, and the Union's aim widens.

  3. 1865

    Appomattox

    Lee surrenders to Grant in April. The Thirteenth Amendment later that year ends slavery across the country.

What you will learn

The Civil War was the greatest test the Union ever faced. This course follows the road to war, the fighting and the hard years that came after.

  • Compare the industrial North with the plantation South and see how slavery and states' rights drove them apart.
  • Follow the failed compromises, the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the election of 1860.
  • Walk through secession, Fort Sumter, Antietam, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, to Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
  • Understand Lincoln's leadership, the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation.
  • Follow Reconstruction, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and how it ended in 1877.

Inside the course

5 modules and 20 short lessons, in the order the app teaches them.

Module 1 · 4 lessonsThe Road to Civil War
  1. 1North and South: Two Ways of Life
  2. 2The Compromises, Bleeding Kansas and Dred Scott
  3. 3Lincoln, Douglas and the Election of 1860
  4. 4Let's Review
Module 2 · 4 lessonsSecession and the First Battles
  1. 1The South Secedes
  2. 2Fort Sumter and the Call to Arms
  3. 3The Battle of Bull Run
  4. 4Let's Review
Module 3 · 4 lessonsLincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation
  1. 1Lincoln Leads the Union
  2. 2Antietam: The Bloodiest Day
  3. 3The Emancipation Proclamation
  4. 4Let's Review
Module 4 · 4 lessonsGettysburg to Appomattox
  1. 1Gettysburg: The Turning Point
  2. 2Vicksburg and the Gettysburg Address
  3. 3Grant, Sherman and Appomattox
  4. 4Let's Review
Module 5 · 4 lessonsReconstruction and Its End
  1. 1Lincoln's Death and the Plans for Rebuilding
  2. 2The Reconstruction Amendments
  3. 3The Compromise of 1877
  4. 4Let's Review

Finish all 5 modules to earn the Civil War and Reconstruction certificate of completion, part of Premium.

Start Civil War and Reconstruction in the app.

Short lessons, questions along the way and a certificate when you finish.

All eight courses